Joshua Zirkzee

Zirkzee drops deep to collect the ball between opposition lines, using a first touch good enough to turn defenders before they can properly close him down. His flicks and backheels are a genuine method of moving the ball into space that a straight pass could not reach, not simple showboating. Because he draws centre backs out of position by dropping short, he regularly opens the exact channel a teammate then runs into behind the defence.

The trade-off is obvious to anyone watching, because a striker this focused on combination play sometimes forgets to get into the box when the moment for a finish arrives. United signed him partly hoping the link-up game would eventually produce goals rather than distract from them. Watch how often his clever build-up ends with somebody else taking the shot, because that pattern is exactly what supporters keep waiting for him to break.